


Positive Reinforcement

by Flynne



Series: Thaddeus Ryder [6]
Category: Mass Effect: Andromeda
Genre: M/M, Thaddeus Ryder - Freeform, unsuccessful motivational speeches
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-25
Updated: 2018-06-25
Packaged: 2019-05-28 09:46:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 791
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15046274
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Flynne/pseuds/Flynne
Summary: Thaddeus Ryder knew he was in trouble the moment Gil asked if he could be a mongoose, but he didn’t start flirting with him until much later. And even then, it was by accident.





	Positive Reinforcement

Thad stuck his hands in his pockets as he walked through the door to the drive core. “Hey, Gil. You busy?”

“Always am. Doesn’t mean I can’t talk, though.” Gil glanced up from his monitors long enough to give Thad a welcoming look. “What’s on your mind?”

“I dunno, I just…wanted to say I thought it was a really good thing, the way you agreed to give Kallo a hand earlier.”

“Well, the  _Tempest_  needed fixing. It’s not like I was gonna say no.”

Thad shrugged awkwardly, realizing he might have gone about starting this conversation differently. “No, I didn’t think you would…”

“You thought I was going to rub his nose in it.”

Gil spoke calmly, but there was an undercurrent of accusation in his tone that made Thad wince. “Can you blame me?” he asked, trying to keep his voice light. “Have you ever listened to a conversation between the two of you?”

Gil did stop working then, sighing as he stepped away from his station. “Look. I know what the  _Tempest_ means to him. I don’t get it, but I can respect it. I’ll admit I’m obnoxious, but I’m not a  _complete_ asshole.”

“I know. I didn’t mean for it to sound like that.” Thad rubbed the back of his neck, feeling sheepish. “Well, this is not going to go down in history as one of my better pep talks as pathfinder.”

“’Pep talk’? Is that what you were trying to do?”

“Positive reinforcement of crew actions, blah blah blah,” Thad said, mockingly quoting an ex-CO (now long dead, back in the Milky Way) with a self-deprecating eye roll. “You could’ve given Kallo shit for coming to you, but you didn’t. I thought it was nice of you, okay?”

Gil frowned, but it didn’t hide the teasing gleam in his eyes. “Mmm, still not quite up to snuff. Maybe you should talk to Director Addison, get some advice on pep talks from  _her_.”

Thad snorted. “Ouch. Asshole.”

“No, obnoxious.” Gil grinned unrepentantly at him before turning back to his station.

“I’m not going to argue with that.” Thad grinned back at Gil’s low chuckle, relieved that he hadn’t put his foot in his mouth too badly. He moved to lean against the bulkhead next to him and folded his arms loosely across his chest. “I do have a favor to ask you, though.”

Gil smirked. “Well with all the positive reinforcement I just got, how can I say no?”

Thad rolled his eyes again. “Just quit fudging reports, all right?”

“What?” Gil seemed genuinely surprised by the request. “Why?”

“Saying you’ve got a project done only to pull an all-nighter or two to make it true isn’t exactly the best way to run things.”

“Now you sound like Suvi,” Gil said, shaking his head. “I get everything done.”

“I know you do,” Thad assured him, hiding a sudden feeling of unease. He hadn’t expected Gil to be resistant to the request, and was really hoping he didn’t have to make it an order. “Just…be accurate about reporting it?”

“Trying to keep me on the straight and narrow, Ryder?” Gil asked dryly.

“Hopefully not  _too_ straight.” The words slipped out before Thad could stop them. He’d been  _thinking_  them, but definitely hadn’t meant to say them out loud. Face flaming, he stammered out, “Uh - I…w-wait, that’s not…”

But before he could decide if he were grasping for an explanation or an apology, Gil burst out laughing - a deep, heartfelt laugh that Thad hadn’t heard from him before. The sound of it warmed the center of his chest in spite of his embarrassment. Instead of teasing him, Gil just grinned and replied, “No chance of that, don’t you worry.”

“Oh, good.” Gil’s grin grew wider, and Thad felt his face grow impossibly hotter. “I mean, I didn’t mean - ” Thad pushed off the bulkhead and headed for the door. “You know what? I’m gonna go now. Do…pathfinder things.”

“Like work on motivational speeches?”

“Shut up.”

“Hey. Ryder.” Thad stopped and turned around just past the doorway. “I won’t fudge reports anymore,” Gil promised. Then he gave Thad a lopsided smile and a wink. “And in the meantime, you can work on coming up with new methods of, uh… _positive reinforcement_.”

The door slid closed, leaving Thad flushed, flustered, and slightly giddy on the other side. He didn’t know whether to laugh or groan at himself. In the end he sighed and thumped his burning forehead against the cool metal. “SAM…when Silla wakes up…please don’t tell her about this.”

SAM’s voice never changed inflection, no matter what he said, but Thad would have sworn he could hear amusement in the AI’s reply.  _“As you wish, Thaddeus.”_


End file.
